He said the Western media has been distorting the piracy issue in China, and ignores the fact that the government is working on the issue

China's copyright piracy head said that the United States is quick to trash China when it comes to piracy issues, but fails to report the progress.

Tian Lipu, head of China's State Intellectual Property Office, said on Sunday that the Western media has been distorting the piracy issue in China, and ignores the fact that the government is working on the issue.

"Speaking honestly, there is a market. People use and buy pirated goods," said Lipu. "To a large extent, China's intellectual property rights protection image has been distorted by Western media. China's image overseas is very poor. As soon as people hear China, they think piracy or counterfeiting -- Beijing's Sanlitun, that place in Shanghai, Luohu in Shenzhen.

"We don't deny [this problem], and we are continuing to battle against it."

While the U.S. may have lost over $15 billion in 2009 to international copyright theft, where about $3.5 billion was due to software piracy in China, Lipu said that China is stepping up its efforts. He added that China pays for most for copyright protection.

China has definitely had piracy issues over the years. In 2007, Chinese police busted a huge piracy ring responsible for pirating and distributing up to $2 billion worth of software. In 2009, China convicted 11 people in a software piracy case where jail sentences lasted anywhere from 18 months to over six years.

More recently, Microsoft hired 1,000 workers in China to for research and development (R&D), services, marketing and sales. The tech giant mentioned that it wants to clear up piracy issues with its Windows software and reach the full potential of the market.